PS Vita has really few appealing games for the market. Simple as that

Japanese created IPs. If there is an AAA Japanese IP based game, japan buys it. That has always happened.

The Vita has great games right now, but only 1 of them is Japanese made (P4:Golden). If LBP was created by Sony Japan, Japanese gamers would be dying to buy it, but it is not, so they dont care.

Japanese gamers are xenophobic against western created IPs.

That is why I think Soul Sacrifice will be a hit.

smartphones and tablets are killing EVERYONE.

why do the world prefer 3DS over PSvita?

Not only Nintendo games, but all games that appear on the console, specially the exclusive ones.

Because not only does it already have some big Japanese games on it, and they happen to be the biggest IP in Japan, but it got some big game announcements pretty early. It stole its biggest competitors killer app.(Monster Hunter)

Gamez.

Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest, etc.

Because Sony is not even trying.

It has everything to do with the games. The 3ds's library is currently so much better than the psvita's its not even fair, especially in Japan. Not only does nintendo now have Monster Hunter, but it also has Pokemon, Animal Crossing, and New Super Mario Bros which are all bigger than monster hunter in Japan, and Mario Kart looks like it will become bigger than monster hunter as well.

The only psp games to sell over 1million copies in Japan were the Monster Hunter games. The DS had 37 different games sell over 1mil in Japan. Sony literally has next to nothing now that they lost their only big portable franchise in Japan. Heck next week the 3ds will pass the psp in number of games that sold over 1mil in Japan, and it's install base is less than half the psp's.

I still don't think it is a software problem as much as it is a marketing problem

Why doesn't [Smart As] sell PS-Vita hardware in Japan when [Brain Age] moved tons of DS hardware in Japan? I have [Smart As] and it is a better [Brain Age] and there is no 3DS [Brain Age] announced.

Ragnarok Odyssey sort of like a Monster Hunter game isn't it?

Isn't LittleBigPlanet Vita a good answer to Mario?

PS-Vita already has it's Super Smash Bros or closest equivalent in PS All-Stars Battle Royale while the 3DS equivalent is 1-2+ years out.

I suppose there isn't any Mario Kart equivalent, but the moment Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed ends up on Vita wouldn't that be an equivalent?

Not to mention the many more software on Vita including some notable exclusives like Persona 4 Golden, Disgaea 3, AC-3 Liberation, Uncharted Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, and others.

It must be a failure of marketing or something else. I myself don't see any problem in the hardware or the software availability.